English: Fourfold Muhammad in geometric Kufic script, which can simultaneously be read Ali in the white interstices, a very complex design. This "Four Muhammad/Ali" pattern (known as 'Char Muhammad' in Persian) is often used in Islamic architectural decoration, particularly that of the Mamluks. Its earliest extant use is in the 1224 Rukniyya Madrasa of Damascus, growing in popularity throughout Mamluk lands in the 13th and 14th centuries. Spreading to Ottoman lands in the late 14th remaining popular into the 16th. With some rarer examples in Safavid Iran.

List of 28 uses of this pattern:

• Madrasa al-Rukniyya, Damascus, 1224–27.
• Sultan Qalawun Complex, Cairo, 1284/85
• Qubbat Shaikh Zayn al-Din Yusuf, Cairo, 1298.
• Qubbat Baybars al-Jashangir, Cairo, 1307–10.
• Al-Maridani Mosque, Cairo, 1337–40
• Aqsunqur Mosque, Cairo, 1347.
• Al-Rumi (Menkali Bugha) Mosque, Aleppo, 1365.
• Khatuniye Madrasa, Karaman, 1382.
• Sultan Kasem Madrasa, Mardin, 1385.
• Yildirim Bayazid I Mosque (Külliyesi), Bursa, 1391–95.
• Saad al-Din bin Ghurab Madrasa and Khanqah, Cairo, 1406
• El-Rizk (Al-Rizk) Mosque, Hasankeyf (Hisn Kayfa), 1409.
• Muhammad al-Saghir Mosque, Cairo, 1426/27
• Haseki Hürrem Sultan Mosque, Istanbul, 1538/39.
• Shah Mosque, Isfahan, 1611–38.
• Al-Burdayni Mosque, Cairo, 1616–1629.
• Linen kerchief, Ottoman, 19th century.
• Inlaid wood table, Ottoman, 19th century.
• Mohammad Ali Tewfik Palace, el-Manial, Cairo, first quarter of the 20th century. Mashrabiya screen of a kiosk main window in front elevation of Residential Palace.
• The Holy Shrine of Imam Ali, Najaf, Iraq, twentieth century.
• al-Burtasi Madrasa Tripoli, Lebanon, 1310–24.
• Firuz Bey Mosque, Milas, Turkey, 1394.
• Hadji Beyler Mosque, Karaman, 1358. Carved in masonry over main door.
• Suleimaniye Mosque, Alanya, ca. 1550. Window shutters, carved and painted wood.
• Mosque of Khvaf, Khorasan, Iran, 1502/3.
• Yesil Mosque, Bursa, 1419. Painted on corridor ceiling.
• Khanqah of Sultan al-Ghouri, Cairo, 1503. Two panels inside the curved surface of mihrab.
• House in al-Mugharbelin neighborhood in Cairo, ca. 17th–18th century.

"Square Kufic Tessellations" by Mamoun Sakkal (2019) in Abjadiyat is cited in Harvard format as: Sakkal, M. (2019) ‘Square Kufic Tessellations’, Abjadiyat, 14(14), pp. 40–69. Available at: https://www.academia.edu/106985378/Square_Kufic_Tessellations_ (Accessed: 27 April 2026).)

Original:

Jayen466

Vector:

OmegaFallon and Cmglee

InfoField